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Twin Human Highway Flares
Twin Human Highway Flares is the eighth song on the album Full Force Galesburg. Lyrics You turned to me and asked me if I'd always be your boy As we drove across the river into western Illinois And on the railroad bridge, half a mile of solid steel Wheels were spitting out sparks, scraping at the rails Wind in your hair all right Sunset spilling through the rear window Your white t-shirt hugging your shoulders, beaded with sweat On the day that I become so forgetful That all of this melts away I will burn all the calendars that counted the years down to Such a worthless day As we walked across the parking lot toward the motel office We were walking with a benediction on us Light was everywhere, the building stood against the sky Like a monument to desperation two floors high A mile and a half from the river We went back to the car to get our overnight bags Sunset spilling through your earrings all over your body When we shut the motel room door behind us, we knew we'd hit the motherlode On the day that I forget you, I hope my heart explodes Comments by John Darnielle About this Song *"This was the first love song I ever wrote for my wife, before she was my wife." -- 2005-07-02 - Old American Can Factory - Brooklyn, NY *"There are two people in this song — or three, if you count the highway, which I generally do. They look a lot like me and the woman who would later become my wife, driving from Chicago to northern Iowa on a summer day. Only I don't think that ever happened. I know we never had any '50s road movie conversations like the one that opens the song. We weren't, at the point in time when this song would have had to've taken place for it to be true, using overnight bags. We had suitcases. And there wasn't enough backstory between us for buildings to appear as "monuments of desperation." But the picture I get in my head, or got in my head when I was writing it in a Grinnell apartment circa 1996, was of my girlfriend and I heading a little ways west and digging in for a long life together. I think it's almost a symbolic scene for me in that way. On one tour we opened the set with it quite a few times, and I enjoyed it more and more each night. The characters in this song aren't keeping secrets from you; anything they don't tell you just isn't any of your business." -- "My Five Favorite Mountain Goats Characters -- eMusic article *“… and Galesburg to me was a spot I saw for seven minutes, looking out of a train window uh, well you know, somebody had some clothes on a line, and a couple dogs were barking in a yard, and I thought I could get off the train here and disappear forever in this town. It was one of those moments, it was one of those moments you get where like vast infinities and possibility’s open up for you for just a second right. It’s not your maslovian plateau moment it’s something else, it’s this moment when you realize there are a lot of selves inside of you and one of them is about to be left behind as the train heads on towards Iowa.”- Kresge Recital Hall in Galesburg, IL 5/2/14 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk9lS7jpZIM) Things Referenced in this Song Live Shows this Song Was Played at *1997-03-01 - Replay Lounge - Lawrence, KS *1997-06-22 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC *1997-11-14 - University of Wisconsin Student Union - Madison, WI *1998-05-15 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL *1999-01-24 - Echo Lounge - Atlanta, GA *2002-03-07 - Independent Media Center - Urbana, IL *2002-10-23 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA *2003-02-06 - Spitz - London, England *2004-05-26 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA *2005-03-25 - Rubber Gloves - Denton, TX *2005-06-21 - WOW Hall - Eugene, OR *2005-06-23 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA *2005-07-02 - Old American Can Factory - Brooklyn, NY *2005-10-12 - The Canopy Club - Urbana, IL *2005-10-13 - Open End Gallery - Chicago, IL *2005-10-17 - Lee's Palace - Toronto, Ontario *2005-10-20 - Uptown Theatre - Washington, PA *2005-10-23 - Lunt Hall Basement Haverford College - Haverford, PA *2005-10-27 - Remis Auditorium - Museum of Fine Arts - Boston, MA *2005-10-29 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY *2006-09-26 - Middle East Downstairs - Cambridge, MA *2007-04-04 - Woody West @ Pusterviksbaren - Gothenburg, Sweden *2007-11-11 - Randy Bacon Studio & Gallery - Springfield, MO *2008-11-02 - Granada Theater - Dallas, TX *2009-04-02 - Courtyard Café at University of Illinois - Champaign, IL *2009-09-18 - Ithaca College - Ithaca, NY *2010-04-09 - San Francisco Bath House - Wellington, New Zealand *2010-04-14 - The Corner Hotel - Melbourne, Australia *2010-05-16 - BreastFest - American Theater Company - Chicago, IL *2010-06-02 - The Rickshaw Theatre - Vancouver, British Columbia *2011-05-27 - Manchester Academy 3 - Manchester, England *2012-01-23 - Club Downunder - Tallahassee, FL *2012-02-03 - The Blind Tiger - Greensboro, NC *2012-10-23 - Pabst Theatre - Milwaukee, WI *2014-04-15 - Pearl Street Ballroom - Northampton, MA *2014-04-16 - Somerville Theatre - Somerville, MA *2014-04-17 - Club Helsinki - Hudson, NY *2014-04-21 - Scope Productions Presents First United Methodist Church - Iowa City, IA *2014-05-02 - Kresge Recital Hall - Knox College - Galesburg, IL *2014-06-10 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA *2014-06-11 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR *2014-06-13 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA *2014-06-14 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA *2014-06-20 - Dan's Silverleaf - Denton, TX *2015-09-08 - Off Broadway - St. Louis, MO *2016-02-24 - Sidebar Theatre - Tallahassee, FL *2016-04-13 - City Winery - Chicago, IL *2016-09-26 - The Englert Theatre - Iowa City, IA *2017-10-05 - Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, England *2019-11-24 - Lisboa ao Vivo - Lisbon, Portugal Videos of this Song *2008-11-02 - Granada Theater - Dallas, TX *2011-05-27 - Manchester Academy 3 - Manchester, England *2012-01-23 - Club Downunder - Tallahassee, FL *2014-04-16 - Somerville Theatre - Somerville, MA *2014-05-02 - Kresge Recital Hall - Knox College - Galesburg, IL *2014-06-20 - Dan's Silverleaf - Denton, TX Category:Full Force Galesburg songs Category:Video